Indians to celebrate Colavito's 80th birthday

By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com

SEATTLE -- The Indians are planning a birthday celebration for one of the franchise's most famous names.

Indians Hall of Famer Rocky Colavito will be the guest of honor for a special luncheon for his 80th birthday on Aug. 10. The celebration will begin at 11 a.m. ET and will be held in the Terrace Club at Progressive Field.

"Rocky is one of the all-time great Indians players," said Bob DiBiasio, the Indians' senior vice president of public affairs, in a press release. "We know fans of many generations cherish memories of him in a Tribe uniform. We're honored to have him back in Cleveland."

The luncheon will include a roundtable discussion led by DiBiasio and featuring Colavito and Indians alumni Max Alvis and Gary Bell. The team will also hold a silent auction, autograph session and ballpark fare buffet.

For the Aug. 10 game against the Angels, the first 10,000 fans will receive a replica of Colavito's Indians Hall of Fame plaque. That game will also feature the second part of the Indians Rock N' Blast two-night fireworks special. Tickets are available on Indians.com.

In parts of eight seasons with the Indians, Colavito hit 190 home runs with 574 RBIs.

Chisenhall not worried about recent errors

SEATTLE -- Lonnie Chisenhall is just chalking it up as a bad week. The young Indians third baseman does not believe the assortment of defensive miscues over the past several days are a sign of a larger problem.

Chisenhall said errors simply come with the territory down the third-base line.

"I feel fine. Third base is a tough position," Chisenhall said on Wednesday morning. "You're going to get errors that you don't have any control over. Some balls are going to hit off your shoulder. Balls are going to hit off your shins. You can't control a lot of that stuff.

"I'll go out there and continue to take my ground balls and get my work in."

Chisenhall was charged with two errors -- one on a missed catch in foul ground in the first inning, and another on a throw to first base in the second -- during Cleveland's 4-3 loss to the Mariners on Tuesday night. That gave the third baseman four errors in four games played on the Tribe's current six-game road trip.

There has not been one specific area ailing Chisenhall, either.

"Two were grounders. One's a popup. One's a throw," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "They're all different. I think that it's just staying ahead of the game. I think the best way to be a good defender is not to just react, but to stay ahead so the game doesn't speed up."

The 24-year-old Chisenhall is one of eight third basemen in the American League with at least eight errors, entering Wednesday. Among that group, he had the fewest total chances (114) and the lowest fielding percentage (.930). In 81 defensive chances at Triple-A earlier this season, Chisenhall was also charged with eight errors.

Francona said none of this has shaken the Indians' belief that Chisenhall has the potential to be a standout third baseman. The manager noted that Chisenhall is still young, and Cleveland is trying to balance his development as a hitter and defender while also trying to win.

"Our organization thinks this kid is going to be a good player, and I agree," Francona said. "He hasn't even tapped into what he's going to be. That's what's exciting. There's some things in there that nobody's seen yet. ... When it happens, it's going to be exciting. And I don't want to get in the way of that."

Chisenhall didn't play in Wednesday's 10-1 win over the Mariners, but the Indians made two errors, giving them nine on the six-game road trip. Asdrubal Cabrera's throwing error led to a run in the second, and Mark Reynolds, who platoons with Chisenhall at third, also had a throwing error.

Stubbs explains blunder on bases

SEATTLE -- Drew Stubbs is one of the better runners in the American League, but the fleet-footed outfielder made a blunder on the bases that cost Cleveland on Tuesday night.

In the ninth inning of a 4-3 loss to the Mariners, Mike Aviles and Stubbs were on first and third base, respectively, with no outs and the Indians trailing by one. Yan Gomes pulled a pitch to Seattle third baseman Kyle Seager, who looked toward Stubbs before throwing to second base to try for a double play.

"They were trying to be able to turn a double play," said Indians manager Terry Francona. "The shortstop is playing pretty shallow. The idea is, if they can turn two, [Stubbs] can't stay at third. So once they threw to second, he's going."

As soon as Seager threw to second baseman Nick Franklin, Stubbs indeed sprinted toward home plate, trying to score the game-tying run. Stubbs hesitated during his run home, however, creating a window of opportunity for the Mariners.

After getting the first out at second base, Franklin fired the ball to catcher Mike Zunino, trapping Stubbs in a rundown. Stubbs was tagged out for a rally-killing double play (the play went 5-4-2-6), and Michael Bourn followed with a strikeout against Mariners closer Tom Wilhelmsen to end the game.

Stubbs knew his mistake.

"I hesitated," Stubbs said. "We were running through a few different scenarios over there. When he went to second, I should've just broke for home. I didn't, and hesitated, and it cost us. That's all I can say."

Stubbs felt he could have scored if he simply kept sprinting.

"I think so," he said. "It's a play where you've got to run through scenarios in your head, make your mind up from the start and just go with it. Any slight hesitation is going to cost you, like it did."

Quote to note

"He's a first-year pitching coach, but it looks like he's been doing it 20 years. He's unbelievably good. I'm thrilled, because when you stand next to somebody every night, especially in a position like that, they have to be good. And he's really good."
--Indians manager Terry Francona on pitching coach Mickey Callaway

Smoke signals

• Indians Minor League shortstop Rubiel Martinez has been suspended without pay for 50 games, effectively immediately, for violations of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Martinez, 20, was hitting .176 through eight games in the Dominican Summer League in Cleveland's farm system.

• The Indians have nine errors in their last six games and have scored just eight runs combined in their past four losses. Indians manager Terry Francona said coming out of the All-Star break sluggish is always a concern.

"I think as a manager, that's probably your concern," Francona said. "I don't think we're sluggish. I think we're not finishing plays and we're not making plays. ... I think the best thing we can do is try to grind out a win today, we've got an off-day tomorrow, get home, and get back to a schedule where we've got some ground balls."

• The Indians' starting rotation headed into Wednesday's game with a 2.15 ERA and a .194 opponents' batting average over 12 games, dating back to July 7. Through five games on the current road trip, the Tribe's pitching staff had a 1.98 ERA.

Scott Kazmir continued that trend by throwing eight one-hit innings in Thursday's 10-1 win. Kazmir has won his last three decisions.

• Class A Mahoning Valley first baseman Nellie Rodriguez was named the Indians' Minor League Player of the Week for July 15-22. During that time, Rodriguez hit .464 (13-for-28) with three home runs, three doubles, nine runs and nine RBIs for the Scrappers.